


you glimmer amongst the oceans depths

by QuantumNebula



Series: DickTigerWeek2019 [5]
Category: DCU (Comics), Grayson (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: AU- Mermaids and Pirates, Angst, Based on art by octoaliencowboy, Day 6- Fantasy, DickTigerWeek2019, Fluff, M/M, mer!Dick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-11-03 21:35:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17885624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuantumNebula/pseuds/QuantumNebula
Summary: Dick is a merman. Tiger is a pirate. They're in love, but it can't work. And they both know it.





	1. lost

**Author's Note:**

  * For [octoaliencowboy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/octoaliencowboy/gifts).



> We're almost done with Dicktiger Week! Here's my Day 6, on the Fantasy prompt. Based off some amazing artwork by octoaliencowboy, linked here: https://octoaliencowboy.tumblr.com/post/182986178876/does-this-merpirate-au-count-bc-it-better-i

The sunset glowed warmly, refracting through the droplets in his sea-soaked hair.

Pretty, Tiger supposed, though in truth he was only looking to draw out the moment. To avoid facing what he feared he was powerless to change.

“Tiger”, Dick said.

Tiger did not move.

“Tiger, please look at me”, Dick continued, a raw note clear in his voice.

Tiger turned towards him, meeting his eyes with an intensity that bore through his flesh, straight into his heart.

It was ridiculous of him to pretend that he could have denied this man anything he asked for.

Dick looked beautiful as ever, perched upon the side of the ship, his glittering tail swishing below.

“You can’t leave!” Tiger suddenly burst out, surprising even himself.

“I...I’m so sorry. My family...” Dick trailed off.

Tiger had never begged in his life. Instead, he had fought his way through every minute of it. He was the disgraced Prince of Kandahar, and a pirate that sailors did not dare whisper about, even by the light of a lamp in the night.

Yet here, he felt the urge rising up his throat, to beg this man to stay with him.

But he could see them, floating a distance away. Dick’s family, who he had lived for far before he had ever met Tiger. The brothers and sisters through which he had weaved his life, his love and his soul.

And Tiger could not ask him to stay. He couldn’t bear to see Dick be torn by this choice, when Tiger knew there was only one he could make, the only one he wouldn’t regret. Tiger cast his mind back to all the treasure he had discovered in his life, and plundered, dug up or otherwise. Yet Tiger was allowing the most precious one to slip through his grasp. He had a bizarre desire to laugh, at what his younger self would have thought, a man who would have taken what he wanted, no matter the consequences.

If only he could perceive whether he himself had changed first, or if Dick had changed him enough to unlock his heart. Perhaps then he would be able to decide if he even deserved the man in front of him. The wealth he had amassed would be a cold comfort, in light of his recent bliss. Tiger would cast it all aside in a heartbeat to stay with Dick.

Tiger swallowed hard, forcing out what he needed to say.

“You should go with them; your family is waiting.”

There. Perhaps now he would be able to live with himself, even as he saw the tears welling up in Dick’s eyes.

He turned back to the sunset, unable to face the pain he was causing Dick. The yellows were bleeding into dark oranges and reds. Soon it would be dark enough to disguise the despair in his eyes. Tiger would only be able to cry fully in the inky, all-consuming darkness of a night on the sea.

“Tiger...” Dick breathed out.

Tiger felt a smooth hand on his jaw, turning it with a delicateness that he didn’t deserve. Then Dick surged forward, pressing his lips to Tiger’s.

It was like the sunset had bursted through his soul, warming him in a way that shouldn’t be possible. The colours running wild, blending through them as they blended together, Tigers arms came up to desperately wrap around his middle. Dick’s arm snuck behind his neck, drawing him impossibly closer, sharing breath and life.

As well as what Tiger feared most. Love. He knew then that he would never truly recover from this moment.

Then Dick pulled away.

“Goodbye” he said, voice hoarse with tears.

Then he slipped down under the water, and swam away.

Tiger would be lost at sea forevermore.


	2. found

-three years later-

Tiger was violently thrown against the deck. The wind howled, ripping through his hair. The storm was attempting to drag him into the sea, claim yet another sailor for its own. He could see that his men were shouting at him, but their words did not reach. The storm boomed, fulfilling its hunger by stealing whatever could be taken, forever hungering for more. He couldn’t even read their lips, as the lightning flashed in an erratic pattern. The light made their horrified expressions ghastly, a pure form of human terror. It really was an ugly thing wasn’t it.

Tiger used all his strength to drag himself to his feet, barely clinging to his balance. Even if he felt like giving up, he couldn’t do that to the men and woman on his ship. Even if he was forced to give the order to abandon ship.

Suddenly, silence. Tiger looked around, the wild from his soul running through his eyes. A less experienced captain would take this as a miracle. But such a sudden stop, without the gradual, subtle cool down of a vicious storm like this? This was only halfway. And when the next hit came, it would surely be the cruellest of the night. Then a shriek pierced the void. “LOOK OUT!”

Several things happened at once, the moment frozen, yet somehow moving at the speed of sound, inevitable in its finality. 

Lightning struck. The mast creaked. Tiger turned. A wave, far larger than their ship. The mast collapsed. Tiger’s eyes widened. He had to grab the ship or be swept away. The mast went unnoticed. Tiger moved, reaching for something solid. He saw the mast.

But it was too late.

The world went dark.

*

Tiger’s hearing came back to him first. He could hear birds. However, it wasn’t the squawk of seagulls, or any other bird that soared over the open ocean. They sounded tropical and bright, the type that only lived amongst the trees.

Feeling begun to come back, starting from the bottom of his feet, and traveling upwards. He could feel a heavy weight across his thighs. He was flat on his back, feeling something granular shift beneath him. Sand. He was on land. How?

Then, a gentle hand on his cheek. Something so familiar, something he had only ever allowed one person close enough for. Could it be? Tiger didn’t want to get his hopes up, but they soared without his permission. If he was wrong, Tiger knew that this would be the last straw for him, barely holding on as he was. Tiger would never recover.

As he opened his eyes, the brightest light he ever seen filled his vision. Richard Grayson. The sun was also there, pale in comparison. God, he was still wearing those ridiculous pearl strings he called a shirt. Not that Tiger minded.

“Hi.” Dick said, far too light and cheerful for the magnitude of this moment. God Tiger loved him.

“Richard…” he breathed, that single breath containing more life than he had felt in the past three years combined. Yet… he still wasn’t convinced.

“Am I dead?” Tiger asked.

Dick laughed quietly. “No. You’re welcome by the way.”

Tiger had waited so long to hear his voice again, to be able to touch him. Wait, what was he still doing on the ground when Dick was here!? He sat up. Maybe a little too quickly.

“Woah”- Dick said, looking little panicked- “easy there Tiger.”

“Urgh.” Yeah, Tiger had definitely bitten off a little more than he could chew. But he didn’t care.

Tiger placed his hand on the side of Dick’s cheek. “I missed you.”

Dick turned his head to the side, looking forlorn. “I know.” He turned back, meeting Tiger’s eyes. “I’m sorry.” There had always been such emotion, and love present in Dick’s entire being. But it was most visible in his bright blue eyes. When Tiger looked at him, this quality was on full display. 

“I missed you too.” Dick finished.

“Don’t leave again.” Tiger began to pull Dick towards him.

Heat rose in both their cheeks. A hair’s breadth away from Tiger’s lips, Dick spoke.

“I won’t. Never.”

Then their lips met.

Tiger was still lost at sea. But with Dick, he would choose to be lost forevermore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
